How do I apply a skeleton rig to multiple objects?
It's a valid question.

If you mean your model is made of multiple meshes, select all of the meshes, then lastly, select the bone, and press ctrl+p and choose your favorite option. Maybe with automatic weights.

You can have any number of meshes paired to a bone, but you must select the bone last, before pairing. I actually prefer this method when working with meshes that should not be distorted by bone movement, like a mechanical robot. Each piece that should only twist and move, not bend, I parent to an individual bone separately. It works to parent them one by one as well.

Tip: You can also select all of the meshes and press ctrl+j to join them, if that is the desired result. You may want to apply modifiers before joining though.

If you mean that you have multiple different models that can all use the same bones and animations, then pair the first object, then the second, then the third, all in the same way.


First, pair one of the objects you would like paired. Most likely this will be using ctrl+p and choose your favorite option. Maybe with automatic weights.
Now select the second object, then the bone. Repeat the process of pairing by pressing ctrl+p and choose your favorite option.


Now if you select the skeleton and go to pose mode, you will find that both meshes will move along with the bone.

Tip: To make things simpler, you may wish to move your skeleton to one layer, and each model to another layer. That way you can pose the skeleton on one layer, and view the results on each layer with the different models.